About
“Cowlishaw has a voice as soft and smooth as satin and slides, note-to-note, as seamlessly. Vocals don’t come any more listenable and, while she might bring to mind certain jazz (and other) vocalists of renown, the best part is she’s developed and is still developing a distinguishable and distinguished style of her own.”
Briana is a versatile artist and musician who loves to share her passion for music and creative energy with people through her work as a choir leader, as a yoga teacher and also uses her talent and skills in her music therapy practice, reinforcing her belief in how music can heal and transform people; bringing clarity, connection and enjoyment in life.
Briana Cowlishaw graduated from The Australian Institute of Music in 2008 and is a Sydney based singer songwriter, performer, creative producer, jazz and contemporary voice teacher and international artist. Briana began her career in 2008 with a passion for vocal jazz and composition and continued studies in New York and Canada travelling back and forth to New York to compose for large ensembles with Guillermo Klein.
Briana has released three jazz albums in Australia and Japan with the first two recorded in New York and the third recorded in Norway. She produced her first two albums, ‘When Fiction Comes to Life’ (2011) and ‘Paper Mache City’ (2013) followed by national tours and performances in Australia and South East Asia. In 2013, her jazz world started to be infused by a real thirst for free improvisation and multi-media collaboration, co-founding 'The Wires Project' which featured in VIVID Sydney, The Melbourne International Jazz Festival and on international stages (Malaysia, South Korea, Norway). Her other notable performances include Wangaratta Jazz Festival, Urbanscapes Festival (Malaysia), Chilpo Jazz Festival (Korea), Edinburgh Jazz Festival and BBC Radio2 with ‘Elbow' (UK).
In 2012 Briana was a finalist in the National Jazz Awards for Voice and her debut album was nominated for ‘Best Vocal Jazz Album’ and gained recognition with the Australian Jazz Bell awards. She also performed with her longtime music collaborator and pianist Gavin Ahearn for Jazzgroove for the Jazz Groove Association with the Judy Bailey Quintet.
Hungry to try life and explore outside of Australia, Briana moved to London in 201. Her curiosity led her to experiment with electro-pop songwriting and live vocal looping heavily inspired by the UK pop music scene. It was in this period that marked the seeds of the artistic moniker, ‘Fetherstone’ which emerged and became the signature of Briana’s style and approach to her music making. Inspired by her 97 year grandmother, a visual artist and best friend, the project imbues the qualities of her creative spirit of originality, playfulness, humour and adventure (Fethersone is her grandmother’s maiden name).
During 2014-2015 Briana collaborated with Australian pianist, Gavin Ahearn, and Norwegian trumpeter, Gary Hoffman, commissioned to compose a series of works - ’The Helgeland Suite’- for the 2015 Hemnes Jazz Festival in Norway.
In 2019, she released her first single of her unique series ‘Unspoken Stories’, a collection of stories from strangers and friends from different cities around the world, and composed an original composition based on their story.
After developing her career overseas and performing in London, Brighton, Brno and Prague, Briana moved back to Sydney in 2019, reconnecting with her family and re-establishing her musical career in Australia. In transitioning back to Australia and consolidating her songwriting her songs are starting to reveal a folk-rock flair, with some of Bri's favourite artists (Maddison Cunningham, Phoebe Bridgers, Laura Marling, Bon Ivor, Sufjan Stevens) seeping into her ever-evolving original sounding style of music.
Briana's songs delve deep into her most personal questions about the world and herself. She uses her voice and the elusive methods of songwriting to find answers to and resolve the mysteries that interest her. Briana loves working in collaboration with other musicians to explore and extend her unique vocal and musical range.
She has been developing her technical knowledge in sound recording and mixing skills with Berlin based Australian vocalist and producer, Matilda Abraham, through online learning and collaboration. Understanding the power of developing skills in her own artistic direction, experimenting technically with sound mixing and vocal work is developing a new style of original compositions and extending her music making experiences.
Briana is currently leading the jazz and contemporary choir at the Australian National University (ACT) along with teaching individual vocal lessons weekly. Briana has been a member of a number of professional and community choirs in London and Sydney over the past 10 years, all of which have enriched her musical and personal growth. Briana is also doing research into the use of community choirs to improve anxiety and build resilience in adults affected by cancer (including patients, carers, the bereaved, family and staff), a topic she feels passionate about and that connects with her personally.